Bessent Notebook Reveals Plan to Buy $5 Billion to $10 Billion of Yen
Forecast Trend Report by Period
A note visible in Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s notebook indicated the US government may be planning to buy as much as $10 billion of Japanese yen. If the US did intervene in the foreign-exchange market, it would be its first direct move to support the yen since 2011.
Reuters reported on August 31 that Bessent exposed the note to press cameras while attending a Cabinet meeting chaired by President Donald Trump at Camp David in Maryland.
A Reuters photograph taken over Bessent’s shoulder during the meeting’s opening press availability showed a notebook with an underlined heading reading “To Do.” Beneath it, the note said clearly: “Buy $5 billion-$10 billion Japanese yen.” Bessent’s nameplate was placed just above the notebook, confirming it was his memo.
A Treasury Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions about whether the note was genuine or whether the US intervened that day to support the yen against the dollar.
The foreign-exchange market showed two clear bouts of yen strength during the session. Japanese authorities appeared to move first in Tokyo morning trading, jolting the market. Later in the afternoon, the yen rose sharply again against the dollar. London Stock Exchange Group data showed the exchange rate moved from 158.9 yen per dollar at 4:14 p.m. Eastern time to 157.6 just before 5 p.m., a decline of about 0.8%.
The last time the US Treasury directly joined other Group of Seven nations to support the yen was during the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
